The Greatest Power
by red-lunar-eclipse
Summary: The story of Link and his unlikely adoptive grandfather (this is an original timeline).
1. Chapter 1

Heads up from author: This is an original timeline/AU. I know LoZ has a very complicated canon that I haven't strictly kept up with, so I apologize if anything conflicts with canon.

There was once a boy who lived in a village near Hyrule. He was an average boy who played with the other children and made bread to sell in his grandfather's bakery. His name was Link.

Nobody knew where Link came from originally. His grandparents, who had adopted him, had found him in the forests. They knew something about him was special and he never learned to speak, but as far as they were concerned, he was no different from the other children. To them, he was just as loved and cherished.

Link spent most of his time with his granddad, Grrad, who's auburn hair had silvered with age and who's skin was the color of ash and onyx.

There was a window that aired out the bakery which was often left open. Sometimes, the other children hung around this window to see if they could get dough bits or end pieces. One day when Grrad was out, the kids came by. There was Endo, a tall brunette boy, and his best friend named Henry. Henry's sister, Isabella, also tagged along.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Endo asked Link as he perched his elbow on the window sil.

"Shh, don't ask him that!" Isabella scolded as she saw Link's brow furrow. She knew they had been teasing him lately.

"Yeah no need to ask. We all know he wants to be a mom when he grows up! Just like his grandad before him." Henry piped in, getting a swift elbow in the ribs from his sister.

Isabella frowned apologetically, nose still wrinkled at her mouthy brother. "Don't listen to him, Link. That's just a stereotype." she corrected as her brother snickered weaselishly.

She then smiled, "Besides, I saw Grrad fight a golem with his BARE hands."

"You're such a liar!" Endo laughed.

Hemry didn't say a word. He knew his sister always told the truth...

"I'm not a liar!" Isabella defended and swiftly turned to Link, who looked more surprised than ever. "Gramps protected us when we needed him, and he bakes cakes all day. What do you think he would say?" she questioned.

Link never was sure whether to believe Isabella's story, but her words stuck with him as years went and the kids continued to tease him. He never was the strongest, biggest, or most masculine-looking young man around, and baking didn't help. He tried to stick with it, though, even as Endo and his friends learned swordsmanship for the first time.

Grrad was in the kitchen working alongside Link that day. There was often a comfortable silence between them, which he broke with a suggestion after having seen the way Link looked out that window. "I like it when you help out with the shop, but, I don't need you here. Go out and learn swordsmanship." he said, wanting Link to take the day off.

Grrad laughed as he saw Link's eyes avert away from the window in a hurry, however.  
Such a loyal kid, even when he didn't need to be.  
"Well, if you don't want to, why the longing stare?"

Link gave Grrad an amused smile as he continued to shun the window.

Grrad could sense a conflict in the boy and scratched his beard. "You know, I wasn't always a baker." he said, bending over to get a bowl with a grumble at his back. He grabbed a stool, hating the damn thing, but guessing he needed it nowadays.

Even he was looking at that window now, a small spark of longing itching its way to the front of his mind. Even if just barely. He did miss being a young swordsman.

"You're old enough to keep secrets now, right?" he asked suddenly as he leaned on the table, catching Link off guard.

The time had come for them to have a talk. He continued to work as he went on. "I'm not just a dark-skinned Hylian. My people live in the desert these days. Didn't used to." he said with a sideways smile. "They're a tribe known as the Gerudo. Bunch of rotten thieves. Don't trust them. I used to lead them, though. I was the only man." he said and kneaded more vigorously than usual, frowning as he nearly broke the board with his strength. He proceeded to work more more carefully after that.  
"Gerudo women are fierce warriors... but I was the fiercest. There were things I didn't agree with, so I left that life behind. I married your grandma and never regretted it." he said with a look of satisfaction as he set the dough to bake.

Grrad didn't want to be found by his old tribe, so this was the secret Link never told.  
With that secret later came an offer from an old king.  
It was late one night when Grrad told Link that he would pass down what he knew of swordsmanship to him.

He had seen the way the other kids bullied his son, and he was determined to teach his boy how to punch their jaws out—and then bake a cake to celebrate.  
"You have to be respected. Be feirce. I'll give you something to show off with and keep those kids in line," he promised that night as he cracked his knuckles.  
And Link swore he heard the thunder crack outside along with them as a storm rolled in. He looked up and nodded with a spark in his eye that matched the flame in his grandfather's gaze.

Grrad then slowly turned away, closing the window. "Uhh... After the storm passes, though."  
Link was taken aback, but then laughed and dipped his head in a massive nod. He was more excited than ever!


	2. Chapter 2

Link learned to use a sword and shield not the way his peers did, but from the former Gerudo king. With his new skills, he awed and inspired the boys who once bullied him, but he was too humble to brag.

To this, his old man Grrad laughed, "Come on, my boy! Now's your chance to be a conceited fool!" he hollered out in jest. He enjoyed playing Devil's advocate and being the bad influence he felt missing from Link's morale.

Though, the fun and games were over when they trained. Grrad's techniques were swift and cutthroat, and his regimen was brutal. Through harsh training, he discovered Link's resilience. The light of a warrior shined in the boy's eyes even in defeat. It was that which Hyrule would need most in a couple of years when the land would lay waste to an evil force...

When the day came, Link donned soldier's armor and left his village on horseback. He traveled across a dying land, racing against a darkness that spread like a veil across the sky. When he reached the heart of Hyrule, he heard a voice calling him.

_"Come to the castle, Link . . . Your aid is needed."_

He didn't know who's voice it was or where she came from, but he went to the castle to find her. He stopped when he found shattered glass on the floor and the remains of three statues that once held something important between them with chains.

_"Great evil was contained here, but the vessel has been broken . . . "_ her voice echoed through the chamber where he stood at the top of the tower. _"It's an honor to meet you both, but I can't say much in this form . . . "_ the voice came again, clearer than before.

. . . . Both? Link looked all around, listening, but it seemed he was alone. Her voice was all around him.

_"He who welcomes darkness will be consumed by it tonight . . . May your spirit guide him to the Light."_ she finally warned before fading away.

The floor started to crumble at Link's feet and he then saw a figure that reared from the shadows, eyes glowing feircely.

He drew his sword as the figure turned into a giant boar. Its fiery mane rippled under the whisps of dark magic emenating from its body, and its two sharp tusks aimed for him as it bowed its massive head.

It ran.

He crouched, then leaped out of the beasts's path. As it came back around for him, it knocked his shield to the floor. He felt the ground shake again as the beast nearly struck him, but then something more powerful flung it to the wall.

One of the statues had been hurled at it.

Grrad stood across the room and thrusted his fist into the next statue, sending the second one flying for it. One, two, and then with all three statues, he burried the beast in a pile of stone.

The old man held his wrist with a grunt, cracking his fingers against the wall. "Hah! Was that it?" he bellowed out.

Just as he spoke, the beast reared from the rubble in a dark flame. Unharmed but furious, it roared loudly and stampeted for Link in a rage.

He threw his shield out in front of him and drew his bow. He shot the beast's eyes, but despite black blood pouring from its face, it swung its head past his shield and speared him in the side with one tusk.

He fought against it, but soon became lightheaded, and as his consciousness waned, he heard her voice ringing mournfully in his ears.

_"It's not alive . . . It cannot be defeated . . . " _

Dark magic enetered through his wound and started to consume his flesh, but before it could end him, Grrad's sword severed the connection, chopping the tusk off the beast.

The beast's eyes grew wild and it charged at Grrad instead, impaling him in the chest.

Link grabbed his sword and stumbled forward, but Grrad stopped him.

"My power will contain it and you will defeat me, then," he growled with rage as he tore the beast's flesh apart with his hands.  
"I won't let it escape!" he roared as fiercely as the beast as the darkness consumed him. It destroyed his old body and restored it to a youthful form.

The chains from the fallen statues wrapped around him. The princess, Zelda, stood by the broken vessel. With light at her fingertips, her hands guided the chains.

When Ganondorf awoke, his eyes shot open with fury like the beats's. He turned to Link, who was lying wounded on the floor, and smirked.

Link looked up in confusion. Zelda knelt next to him and placed a cloth against his side. "You're the Light, Link . . . " she said, the last words he heard before the world faded away.

He then saw a woman dressed in a gown of leaves who pulled him close. In a flash of golden wings, she carried him to a bright open field where he found Grrad looking at a map in irritation.

"Damn elf gave me a blank map," Grrad said when he saw Link and pointed to the blank parchment.

Link snorted. What kind of joker gives out blank maps? He could smell bread baking in the village nearby, though. It couldn't be far. He gestured for Grrad to follow him and guided their way home.


End file.
